Footwear with slanting sole



Patented Aug. 15, 1950 i'UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FOOTWEAR WITH SLANTING SOLE Kenneth S. Tydings, Long Beach, and Jules Shangold, Valley Stream, N. Y.

Application February 27, 1947, Serial No. 731,366

3 Claims. (01. 36-85) O This invention relates to devices for controlling the movement of foot and leg muscles and joints, and more particularly is directed to exercising clogs of simplified improved .construction which help modify the tread of step movements of the foot to correct the ill-effects of improper [walking or badly fitted shoes resulting in the shortening of the posterior leg muscles of the feet which may be conducive to forming a socalled fiat feet condition as when high heeled shoes are extensively used, and to an improved method of performing exercises for lengthening the posterior leg muscles to alleviate said foot I and other ills.

Among the objects of the invention is to generally improve devices of the character described and the method for exercising the foot, which shall comprise few and simple parts that are practically undistinguishable from some types of ordinary footwear in appearance and otherwise usable as such footwear but as so constructed and having the parts so arranged to give predetermined exercises while walking, which shall be cheap to manufacture yet readily adapted to orthopedic foot requirements aforesaid, which shall function in a practical and efficient manner to a high degree in use.

Other objects of this invention will in part be obvious and in part hereinafter pointed out.

. The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the constructions hereinafter described and Of which the scope of application will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which is Y shown one possible illustrative embodiment of the body on the heel as initially applied thereto,

Fig. 2 is an end or heel view of said left foot and exercising clog shown in Fig. l with the weight of the user as initially applied to the heel and, therefore, tilted so that its lower or outer surface at the heel evenly bears on the ground and with the wear surface at the ball elevated .from the ground at the inner edge.

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view like that shown in Fig. 1, shown during walking or exercising position after the weight of the body has been --.l i ie imiath heeliqiheb o t ee .1

2 Fig. 4 is a bottom View of the improved clog, shown in Fig. 1,

Fig. 5 is an outer side elevational view like Fig. 1 showing an exercising clog for the left foot of modified construction with the weight as initially applied thereto, and

Fig. 6 is an end or heel view of the foot, and clog shown in Fig. 5 also as with the weight as initially applied.

Heretofore many relatively complicated appliances have been devised and used for treatment of foot ills resulting from shortening of the foot and posterior leg muscles due generally to prolonged wearing of high-heeled shoes and also from badly fitted Shoes tending or causing displacement of the bone joint arch and resulting in so-called fiat feet. There also has been prescribed certain forms of foot exercises for such treatment of foot ills which may be taken with or without special devices.

The present invention provides exercising clogs of improved construction which in appearance resembles an ordinary type of footwear but which incorporates features to produce a predetermined treatment of the foot ills of the character described if worn at certain intervals during the day in the normal ambulation.

Referring in detail to the drawing, l0 denotes an exercising clog constructed to embody the invention shown in Fig. 1 as applied to the left foot F with the weight of the body (not shown) on the heel H. Said clog l0 may comprise a relatively rigid sole member I I made of wood, leather, fibre, plastic compounds or other suitable cut or molded material having an upper or foot bearing surface Ila conforming to the size and contour of the bottom side of foot F which rests on said surface Ila, a flexible upper or cross band l2 extending to snugly fit over the instep portion of the foot F for releasably holding saidsole member I l in effective position, said band l2 having ends l2a thereof anchored to opposite side or edge surfaces Ilb of said sole member H by suitable means such as, for example, nails l3, and a flexible elastic heel strap 14 having ends Ma secured to spaced portions of the rearwardly extended edge border [2b of said cross band I2.

The foot bearing or upper surface Ha of the sole member II, as shown in Fig. 1, is disposed to lie, when the weight of the body is on the heel, substantially in a plane rearwardly inclined from the toe to the heel region at angle a. with respect to a normal horizontal ground supporting plane, indicated at G. This angle for ordinary purposes may be approximately 15. If de- 5 the instep portion of foot F and flexible elastic heel strap [4. Both band l2 and strap 14 are attached to sole member 2| in the same manner as described above for clog Ill.

Strips in the form of cross piece [5 and heel I segment I! may also be provided as cushioning and anti-slipping means as shown in Figs. 5 and 6 and serve the same purpose as similar strips I6 and ll of clog l9 described above.

The use and method of practicing the invention with clog 20 is the same as that already described for clogs [0, although the chamfered or bevelled face 2 la of the heel-bearing surface 2 le of clogs 20 is located and positioned on the upper rather than on the under side of the member 2i.

It will thus be seen that there is provided clogs and method whereby the several objects of this invention are achieved and which are well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiments above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. Exercising footwear of the character described comprising a sole member of rigid material adapted to be secured on the under side of a foot, said member having an upper bearing surface which generally in its entirety is inclined downwardly approximately 15 from the toe end to heel end thereof with respect to a horizontal supporting plane, the bottom or ground-bearing surface of said member diverging transversely relative to the upper bearing surface of said member in its heel region in a continuous single direction, this transverse divergence being no less than 5 from the outer to the inner border of the heel region only, whereby when the ground bearing surface in the bottom of the heel end of the member rests on the horizontal supporting plane, the upper bearing surface at the heel end slopes transversely at an angle of no less than 5 with respect to the said plane so that walking with said footwear inclines and slopes the foot to stretch the posterior leg muscles for maintaining a normal arch effect therefor.

2. The exercising footwear of claim 1 wherein the bottom or ground bearing surface of said member in its heel region is chamfered off transversely to provide the transverse divergence in the heel region from the outer to the inner border of the heel region.

3. The exercising footwear of claim 1, wherein the upper bearing surface of the member in its heel region is bevelled off transversely to provide the transverse divergence in the heel region from the outer to the inner border of the heel region.

KENNETH S. TYDINGS. JULES SHANGOLD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date D. 134,415 Allgaier Nov. 24, 1942 2,096,500 McCahan Oct. 19, 1937 2,135,504 Hack Nov. 8, 1938 2,174,647 Wiessner Oct. 3, 1939 2,217,990 Nussbaum Oct. 15, 1940 2,352,098 Hess June 20, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 419,156 Great Britain Nov. 7, 1934 448,714 Germany Feb. 1, 1925 550,825 Great Britain Jan. 26, 1943 

